Can I Sit Here?
by Vinyaya
Summary: Scorpius, Albus, Rose and the rest of the family at Hogwarts. Fun and fluffy, with some S/R moments.


A/N: It's been ages, but I love the new generation, so it's time. Please review!

Disclaimer: No, not mine. Love 'em though.

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"Can I sit here?"

Rose and Albus looked up from their Exploding Snap cards.

"S'pose so," mumbled Albus.

They didn't talk to him for the next fifteen minutes, while they passed the cards to each other, and played quietly near the window.

Scorpius took a book out of his backpack. It was entitled Hogwarts: A History. Rose looked at it with interest. Her Mum had given her the same book at least a year ago. It was like the Bible, for her mum. Scorpius looked up at her suddenly. Rose averted her eyes, and her cards exploded. Albus got a fit of the giggles; Rose kicked him on the shin. Scorpius grinned quietly.

"I'm Rose Weasley," said Rose. Albus gaped at her.

"Scorpius Malfoy" muttered Scorpius.

"Albus Potter," put in Albus.

"Are you Harry Potter's…?"

"Yes, I am. How did you…?"

"Nothing. My Dad talks about him sometimes," Scorpius went red.

"Does he," said Albus scathingly. "My dad talks about yours sometimes, too."

"Really? But my dad's not, y'know," said Scorpius.

"What?" asked Albus.

"Well. Famous. And all that," muttered Scorpius.

"Oh," said Albus. "Why, what does your dad say about mine?"

"Nothing. He told me your dad saved his life, once,"

"Oh. That's all right then," Albus grinned his crinkly green-eyed grin. "Wanna play Exploding Snap?"

"OK!" Scorpius bounded over to Albus' side of the compartment, and they dealt the cards again. Rose tucked a curl behind her ear.

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"I can't believe I'm in Gryffindor,"

Rose smiled at him.

"Why not?" said Albus, his mouth full of pork pie.

"Nobody in my family's ever been in Gryffindor. Ever, ever. My dad is going to kill me."

"He was a Slytherin, wasn't he?"

"Yep."

"Knew it."

James bounded over, detaching himself from his second year friends. Condescending to talk to them, considering they were babies and all, was a generous offering on his part, but not one Albus took exceptionally well.

"What d'_you_ want?"

"Just the pleasure of a few words with you, dear brother," grinned James.

"Say 'em, then," grunted Albus, shoveling more pie into his mouth.

"You put any more stuff in your mouth in one go, and you'll find yourself blowing up," James told Albus, and messed up his hair for general entertainment.

"Leggo!" said Albus in a muffled voice. Rose giggled.

"Well, well, _well,_ well," said James with great interest. "What do we have here? I do believe," he let go of Albus, "it's ickle wee Scorpius Malfoy, of the Malfoys of… of…"

"Slytherin?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows.

"Them, yes," said James.

"Yep, that's me,"

"Made it into Gryffindor, then, have you?"

"Looks like it, doesn't it,"

James grinned at him and held out his hand. "Welcome, Scorpius Malfoy of Gryffindor, of the Malfoys of Slytherin. May you break all green and silver traditions and win us the Quidditch Cup."

Scorpius took his hand and shook it, grinning.

"How come you're nicer to _him_ that you are to your own brother," grumbled Albus, plaintively.

"It's cos _he_ isn't a spoilt berk like you, Al," said James amiably. "Now, why didn't _you_ end up in Slytherin? That might've been a fair exchange."

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"So, we are trying out for the Quidditch team this year, aren't we?"

Albus looked up at Scorpius, who was holding a _Lightening_ _Bolt_ like he wanted to marry it.

"You are, I suppose," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Are you saying you aren't?" Scorpius looked scandalized.

"Well, erm, Scip," Albus dipped his quill in the green ink that his mum had packed because it matched his eyes – _mothers!_ – and said, "I'm afraid of heights."

"You're joking!"

"I'm not, I'm afraid. My dad's tried and tried and tried to make me learn how to fly a broomstick. I couldn't even stay on those kiddie ones that stay two feet above the ground. I'm just not cut out for flying."

"Oh," Scorpius paused for a second. "Is Rose trying?"

"If she gets her nose out of her books for a fraction of a second, you could ask her."

"Right."

"Nice broom, though. What is it, a _Thunderbolt_?"

"_Lightening_ _Bolt_. Newest in that range."

"Flown it yet?"

"Once. It's balance is fifty times more precise than, say, the latest _Cleansweep_."

"And the _Thunderbolt_?"

"Well, marginally better. It's safer, too; it has anti-throw charms built into the brake system."

"Nice. James has a _Thunderbolt_, you could compare. _Which broomstick_ said the Thunderbolt's tailwind was better –"

"I can't believe you're afraid of heights. You love Quidditch."

"I know I do. But that doesn't change the fact that I vomit if I go higher that five feet off the ground."

"That's awful,"

"It _is_ awful."

"What're you doing, then?"

"Charms homework."

"Right."

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"No magic! How are we supposed to learn magic if we aren't allowed to do magic?"

Rose looked up from the shield she was scrubbing.

"It's _detention_, Albus. They're trying to teach us a lesson,"

"My point exactly. Learning how to shine trophies by hand isn't exactly the most useful lesson in the world to learn, y'know." Albus grumbled as he rubbed.

"Oi, Al," said Scorpius. Scorpius was generally a quiet, reserved person, but with glimmerings of a highly evolved sense of humour.

"What?" said Albus.

"Look at this," Scorpius handed him the shield he'd been shining. "Look at the plaque."

"It's an award for Special Services to the school," breathed Rose, looking over Albus' shoulder. The plaque read _Harry James Potter._

"Dad never told me about this," said Albus, gaping.

"He vanquified Voldemort, dinnee," said Scorpius, smirking. "Bet his Order of Merlin made him forget all about this,"

"Why d'you suppose he got it?" wondered Rose. "Look, it's dated 1993. What year would he have been in 1993?"

"Dad was born in 1980," said Albus, running his forefinger down the side of the plaque. "This was probably at the end of his second or the beginning of his third year at Hogwarts,"

"Our age, then," said Scorpius.

"Yeah," said Albus wonderingly.

"Ooooh, look," said Rose, sounding pleased. "My dad got one. Same year," she brandished another Award under their noses.

"Bet my dad didn't get anything," muttered Scorpius.

"Bet he didn't," smirked Albus.

"Watch it," said Scorpius, sharply.

"Sorry," said Albus, subsiding.

Rose gazed at Scorpius' features keenly. Scorpius never blushed red, but right now he was looking as worked up as he could. This entailed there being a crease on his otherwise smooth white brow, and a tightness about his mouth.

"It wasn't his fault," Scorpius muttered after a while. "He knows what he's been like. He's changed."

Albus nodded silently. They resumed scrubbing the trophies.

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"That was _brilliant_!" exclaimed Albus happily.

"It was," said Scorpius, grinning.

"It really, really was!" said Rose, more enthusiastic than many people had ever seen her. "The way you swooped in –" she mimed swooping, "and slammed it –" she mimed slamming "and wow! It was so amazing!"

"Heh, thank you," said Scorpius, coloring ever so slightly. Scorpius never blushed; he _colored_. Very subtly, at that.

"Wow, Rosie," said Albus, "I don't think I've seen you this excited since Professor Archer announced that she was setting us extra homework!"

Rose pinched him hard.

"Owww!" said Albus indignantly. Scorpius laughed.

"That _was_ a nice surprise though," joked Rose, feigning a dreamy look.

"Here you are, then, five Butterbeers – hang on, you _did_ order five, didn't you? Only there's just three of you, 's far as I can see."

"No, we did order five. A couple of people are on their way here. Thanks, Em."

Em Radley was a Squib who worked at the Three Broomsticks as a waitress. Ever since it had expanded, a few years ago, Madam Rosmerta, the proprietor, had taken on a managerial position and hired waitresses to serve the customers. Mysteriously, all the waitresses were young, pretty, and curvaceous. Albus was very taken with young Em, who took it upon herself to serve their lot whenever they visited the three broomsticks. She was only sixteen, the youngest waitress there; having been unable to get into Hogwarts due to a marked lack of magical powers, she had positioned herself as close to it as she could possibly get.

Albus, Rose and Scorpius sipped their Butterbeers in companiable silence.

"I can't believe they scheduled both Quidditch and Hogsmeade this weekend," said Rose.

"It was stupid," agreed Albus. Everybody missed the best bit of the match in their hurry to get to Honeydukes."

"Well, they had to cancel the match last weekend, it wasn't their fault or anything," said Scorpius fairly. You could always count on Scorpius to do the fair thing.

"Yeah, well, we're lucky Ginger caught the Snitch so quickly," grumbled Albus. "Otherwise, who knows? We'd have missed our weekly Butterbeer!"

"No, James would've brought us some," said Rose. "He always does,"

"I wish I knew how he did it!" said Albus wistfully.

"He says he knows how to Apparate out of Hogwarts," said Scorpius, carefully hiding a chuckle.

"What rubbish. I bet he doesn't know how to Apparate at all, forget out of Hogwarts," said Rose impatiently. "Now, if any of you had ever read _Hogwarts, a History_, you'd know it's impossible to Apparate or Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts."

"We know, we know," said Albus in exasperation, while Scorpius laughed into his Butterbeer.

Presently, they were joined by Kelsey Baker and Patrick Fox, who drank the remaining Butterbeers, threw Every Flavour Beans for Albus to catch with his mouth, and made fun of Scorpius for looking like Sir Cadogan without his armour (a fact which Scorpius stoutly denied). Fun was had.

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"Know what, Scip?"

"What, Al?"

"See that girl there? Next to Alex Corner's lot? The one sitting opposite Philippa?"

"Yeah. The black-haired one?"

"Yeah. Isn't she fit?"

"You could say that,"

"I could indeed. Come on, Scorpius, _look_ at her."

"I am!"

"Well?"

"She is pretty, Al, yes. Why, d'you fancy her?"

"I could fancy her. If I found out her name."

Scorpius sighed. "It's Louisa. Louisa Renton," he said.

"What? You know her?"

"From the Runes Club."

"Oh. Well. Introduce me to her, then, sometime."

"OK."

"What're you two talking about?"

"Oh, hello, Rosie. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We're talking about the weather. And, of course, our health,"

Rose gave Albus a friendly smack on the shoulder, causing him to howl into his Pumpkin Juice.

"Who was he pointing out to you?" she asked Scorpius, who showed her, much to Albus' consternation.

"Louisa Renton?" said Rose distastefully.

"Yes?" said Albus, feeling a little defensive. He didn't want anybody to think he had bad taste in women.

"Don't know anything about her, do you?" Rose asked him.

"No, why? Is there something wrong with her? Is she a tart? What?"

"Wait a mo." Rose vanished, and Scorpius raised an amused eyebrow at Albus.

"Never thought you'd be off fancying girls a minute into our fourth year, Albus Severus Potter," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, why not?" said Albus, growing even more defensive. "James fancied a girl in his first year. And he had a girlfriend a month into his fourth!"

"Dunno. Never pegged you for the Ladies' Man type," said Scorpius, shrugging.

"Why not? You don't think I'm charming enough?"

"I wouldn't know," Scorpius replied dryly. "I just always thought you were a little shy,"

"Well, you're wrong, then," Albus said sullenly. "Nobody takes me seriously," he added. Scorpius grinned.

"Hello," said Lily Potter brightly, as she arrived at their table with Rose.

"'Lo," Albus said to his sister, while Scorpius high fived her.

"So, ickle Alby?" said Lily, enjoying herself immensely. "What's this I hear about you fancying Louisa Renton?"

"I dunno," said Albus, glaring at Rose, who seemed to have spilled the beans completely. "What _did_ you hear, dear sister mine?"

"That you think our Louisa is the light that shines from beyond all the beauty you thought was ever possible, and you _burn_, you _pine_ for to make her yours, and yours alone,"

"Hearsay," said Albus dismissively, at the same time that Scorpius laughed and said "What on earth have you been reading, Lil?"

"Shakespeare," lied Lily, and grinned her angelic grin. "Want to know stuff about her, Al? Like her interests and likes and dislikes and all that? Might help you woo her, eh?"

"Oh, all right then," grunted Albus, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

"Right," said Lily, giggling. "You know that she's in my year, don't you? Hufflepuff. Moderately intelligent. Quiet. Likes chocolate anything. Dislikes anything to do with pumpkins, watermelons, marmalade and the colour green – no go with that one then, Albus –" Albus scowled at her; his eyes were as green as a fresh pickled toad. "Supports the Appleby Arrows, hates the Chudley Cannons and the Wimbourne wasps with en equal fervour, and speaks French. Last I heard, she fancied Will Ashton Summers, but he's about four years older and twelve times more attractive than she is, so I s'pose she might consider going out with you, if you somehow manage not to put your foot in it,"

"Will Ashton Summers?" yelped Albus, going a little green. Scorpius patted his back sympathetically.

"He's got birds like Ronica Simpkins and Dorine Wood flitting back and forth around him, Albus, I'm sure he wouldn't give some random second year girl much attention,"

"Thank you," said Albus, still not looking too happy. Rose giggled gleefully. Scorpius winked at her, and punched Albus lightly on the shoulder.

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"I _hate_ Professor Mackie,"

"I know. Three rolls of parchment by next week! She must be crazy,"

"Three rolls of parchment's not too bad," said Rose airily. "It's Human Transfiguration; there's a _lot_ of material,"

Patrick gaped at her. Red didn't bother. She was one of Rose's roommates, and one of the few people who had moved past Rose's insane work ethic and exceedingly high tolerance level.

"Shut it, bookworm," she said, lazily. "Some of us _actually get tired_ of essays once in a while, believe it or not."

"Hah," said Rose, tossing her red hair over her shoulder and stalking off. She hated being called 'Bookworm' but it was the price to pay for having smart mouthed friends. They were, she reasoned, nice in every other way.

Patrick gazed at her swiftly retreating form.

"Is it just me," he wondered aloud, "Or does Rose smell _pretty_ today?" Red gave him an astonished look.

"Pretty?" she repeated, trying not to laugh. Patrick glared at her.

"Forget I said it," he told Red.

"Oi, what's the joke?" said Albus, bounding out of the Transfiguration classroom behind them.

"Apparently, Rose smells _pretty_," choked Red, her dark eyeliner crinkling at the corners due to her laughter.

"Oh, shut it," fumed Patrick.

"Ech," remarked Albus, and bounded away.

"He seems upbeat," commented Red when she'd overcome her laughter.

"Doesn't he," said Patrick, beginning to grin. "He's just heard tell from his sister that that bird he fancies in her year – whatsername – Louisa somebody, has told her friend who told her friend, who told her cousin who told her sister who told Lily that Louisa thinks 'Albus Potter is awfully cute'."

"Well, _well_, well!" said Red, smirking. "_That's_ a development!"

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"I don't suppose anybody's going to tell me why James is sulking at the top of the Astronomy tower, are they?"

"Don't suppose so," said Al, looking up from his Divination parchments. Much to everybody's surprise, he'd turned out to be quite good at reading tea leaves and staring down orbs. For some strange, unknown, parently reason, his uncle Ron had lain down on a couch and laughed for twelve straight minutes when Al had told them about his penchant for Divination.

"Where's his girlfriend?" tried Lily, hoping maybe she'd get the relevant information form that source.

"Don't you mean 'who's his girlfriend'?" Albus asked, smirking. "Or are you saying you've actually managed to keep track? Because that might warrant an Order of Merlin,"

"Oh, go annoy a Flobberworm, Albus," said Lily crossly, and set off for the astronomy tower.

"Oi!" she heard behind her from the common room. "I'm coming too." Scorpius appeared next to her and grinned.

"I'm the official authority on the Tantrums of James Potter, I am," he said, and Lily laughed.

"Honestly, that brother of mine," she said. "So moody. Always feeling misunderstood and overwrought and pressurized."

"Well, I don't think it's that this time," said Scorpius. "Or he'd have gone down to the Quidditch Pitch and thrown a Quaffle or two about."

They walked companiably towards the Astronomy Wing, knowing they were the only two people in Hogwarts who understood James Sirius Potter.

James was drinking Firewhisky under his invisibility cloak. He was heartily sick of everything, and missed his mother. He knew he was going to bomb his NEWTs, and he hated being a sixteen-year-old. Adolescent pressures irritated him; he liked being happy, and playing Quidditch, and perhaps lobbing a dungbomb or two on Victoire and Dominique when no one was looking. He didn't like drama. Being cheated on annoyed him. He downed another mouthful, and heard footsteps. He sighed. Lils and Scip. Of course.

"Out from under that Cloak, Jimmykins," said Lily, clapping her hands cheerfully. She looked around the room in vain. James sighed again. He really wasn't in the mood to be roused out of depression right about now. Wallowing was good; wallowing was set; wallowing was perfect; killer shit, killer shit. Of course, Scorpius would have none of it. His sharp ears heard the minute sigh, and he strode over to James' corner and whipped his Cloak off with a flourish.

"I may scream 'rape'," James warned darkly.

"You do that," grinned Scorpius.

"Jamesey Poo!" said Lily, coming over to him and throwing her arms around his shoulders affectionately. "What happened this time?"

"Oh, nothing. Got cheated on. Not a big deal or anything,"

"What are you talking about? That V-girl cheated on you?"

"Valerie, yes."

"Who with?"

"Benjamin Boot. Can't say I blame her, I must've bored the shit out of her."

"Potty mouth," said Lily sternly. "You couldn't have bored her; you're nice, and funny, and you look like Dad with different colours filled in, so I suppose you must be good looking. She's probably just naturally a slag, you know. Some girls are," she added wisely.

"I don't care about her, anyway. I've been dating her, what, two weeks?"

"Yeah, broken all your old records there, haven't you?" grinned Scip, earning himself an enormously scathing look, one James had inherited from his paternal grandmother, though he didn't know it.

"I'm just saying. People expect me to be this great chap; Harry Potter's oldest son, and I can't even keep a girl moderately happy! Let alone get decent newts! God knows I got only four OWLs!"

"You got only four OWLs because you didn't give a darn about them, and you didn't work," Scorpius told him impatiently. "But you've been working really hard for your NEWTs, as far as I've noticed, so stop being such a pitiful cry-baby and come down to the common room, where you can get on with it, by Merlin!"

James pouted, but after a little more coaxing, complied.

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"Merlin's curly eyelashes, I have _never_ witnessed _anything_ like that in my _life_!"

"I don't really think I even wanted to, really."

"That was some snog session there, Albus Severus Potter!"

"And one that made me want to throw up, I might add,"

"Thank you, Rose; shut up, James; thank you, Scip; shut up, Hugo." Albus sat down on the Gryffindor table and began to load food onto his plate. "I think I'm in love," he added.

"In love?" said Lily incredulously. "Having a mutual capacity to eat one another's faces off can hardly be counted as _love_, my ill-informed brother!"

"I'm serious! Sara is everything I ever wanted."

"Oh, right, of _course_ she is," said the ever-critical Lily scathingly. "She's blond, skinny, blue-eyed, and has a well-rounded arse. I see where you're coming from with that, Alby. Of course, there isn't the slightest chance that this could be that lust thing we're always hearing about, no no."

"Oi, shut it. No one has the right to notice Sara's arse except me, got it?"

"I'm a _girl_, you idiot."

"I don't give a crap if you're a girl. She's mine."

"See? That, right there," began Rose indignantly. "That, you people, is objectification of women. No one listens to me when I say there's a lot of work to be done if we're to get equal treatment –"

"You know I agree with you and all that, Rosie," said Kelsey. "But no noble causes during dinner, please."

"Hmph," snorted Rose, but didn't push it.

"Where's Desmond, anyway?" put in Scorpius casually.

"Dessie? Owlery. He had to send his mum a present; it's her birthday in a few days," Rose said, and began to put food daintily into her mouth.

"How long's it been with you two, again?" asked James, who was eating with them today. He deigned to, occasionally, and had begun to spend meals with them even more often of late, this being the first time in several years that he hadn't had a girlfriend for longer than a week. Albus, as everybody could see, seemed to be following in his footsteps. Freddie would've been sitting with them too, if he hadn't been in the hospital wing, where he tended to end up a _lot_.

"Three months," Rose said proudly. Desmond was her first boyfriend. Prior to this, her primary interest in life had been to score goals for Gryffindor and get above a hundred percent on as many tests as she possibly could. There had been a little thing between her and Patrick Fox, but that had fizzed out within a couple of weeks: they simply got along far too well.

"Now, _that's_ a relationship," commented Lily, who always had to voice her opinion in her shrill, freckled way. "I'm proud of you, Rosie."

"Well, what's the lookout on the Graham front, then?" asked James, a little grumpily.

"No go," said Lily in a gloomy voice.

"Don't worry, Lils," said Kelsey sympathetically. "There are bigger fish in the sea,"

"Bigger wha-mfph!" James choked, and Kelsey laughed.

"I didn't mean it the way you obviously though I did," she said, smirking. "I probably should've said, there are _better_ fish in the sea," she added, thumping James on the back.

"Yeah, you should've!" said James, recovering. "Holy innuendo! I was not ready for this. My baby sister …"

"Where's Red been lately?" asked Albus through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"She's been sitting with the Slytherins," said Scorpius, looking slightly repulsed at the sight of Albus' half-chewed food. "She's going out with Alfred Nott," he added.

"Nott? What's she see in _him_?" asked Albus dubiously.

"Not the 'Death Eater Scum's son' that you do, evidently," said Scorpius, his voice growing dry.

"That's not what I meant," said Albus indignantly. "There's no need to get all defensive."

"Well, what did you mean, then," said Scorpius in his best I-Will-Not-Budge-From-My-Stance voice.

"I meant Nott is a –"

"Slytherin?"

"Oh, shut up," Albus shoved a few carrotsticks into his mouth and got up.

"What was _that_ about?" Rose asked Scorpius.

"Nothing," Scorpius said shortly.

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"Abernathy tried to hex me today,"

"WHAT? That toad! What happened?"

"What d'you mean, what happened? D'you really think I'd let him get away with raising his wand arm at me? Holy presumption! To imagine he thought he could out-jinx me, Rose Weasley!" Rose shook her long red hair back.

"So you hexed him?" asked Scorpius, beginning to grin.

"More out of ego than anything else, actually,"

Scorpius laughed loudly. "Tell James," he said. "Go, tell him right now. He's going to _love_ this…" he dissolved into laughter again. Rose watched his silver blond hair brush his eyes as he shook with mirth.

"Why's James going to love it?" she asked him.

"Don't you know? Abernathy and he have a long-standing grudge thing going."

"What? Why? How strange!" commented Rose.

"Not strange," said Scorpius, and quietened down a little. "Get your head out of _Transfiguration Today_ for a change, and look around you, Rosie!"

"Hey, I am trying out for the Quidditch team, aren't I?"

"Yes, yes, you are. Thank you for taking advice, for a change!"

"Well, I always wanted to, you know. There just hasn't been a vacancy in the Chaser position for a bit."

"Well, now there is. And I'm betting you'll get it, seeing as how we coached you night and day last summer. I bet young Garry Scamander isn't a patch on you and he's supposed to be one of the best among the ones trying out,"

"All right, but why does James have a grudge against Abernathy?"

"Erm, well, I don't quite know…"

"Right; and I believe you, Scip. Go on. I know you get along with secretive little Jamesie Poo far better than any of us, his misbegotten family, so I'm quite sure you know all about this."

"All right, then. Hector Abernathy fancied your cousin Lily last year."

"You're not serious! But I thought Abernathy was all about the Blood Status –"

"Exactly. So while he fancied Lily in a 'she looks fit' sort of way, he didn't _quite_ respect her as much as James would've liked. And I think he tried to force her into a snog with him, or something."

"But she was thirteen! How absolutely disgusting!"

"I know. She kicked him where it hurts, of course. She's feisty, that cousin of yours. And then she went straight to James."

"Brilliant!"

"'Course. And then James rounded up the rest of the protective males in your enormous family –"

"He told Freddie and Louis?"

"Yep. And Albus, and Hugo. And they were not amused, let me tell you. Abernathy got some serious thrashing, and when they were done with him, you couldn't tell his face from all the tentacles."

Rose threw back her head and laughed for about five minutes straight.

"Why didn't they tell us?" she asked Scorpius.

"Search me. They didn't tell me 'til a while ago. Actually, they didn't even do that, I just found out in passing. Albus knew, of course. He was the one who gave up on hexes first, and punched Abernathy's nose."

"Haha, really. The Boy Who Cannot Talk to Girl He Fancies, punching people's noses, now?"

"Yeah, I know. But Abernathy's a special case. And anyway, Albus has been able to screw up his courage and speak to her a couple of times,"

"Really? Last time I heard, he talked to her about Cockroach Cluster and frightened her a little bit."

"Well, that _is_ true… but the other day they had quite a stimulating conversation about Garden Gnomes."

"Oh, all right then. Ickle Albus, fancying Ravenclaw girls."

"Gwen's OK. And so's her friend Felicity."

"Don't tell me you fancy Felicity, Scip!"

"I dunno, do I? She's not half bad! Got a nice smile."

"Oh my God, you fancy Felicity!"

"Well, we've been thrown together a lot for the past week, what with Albus slipping off with Gwen to discuss domestic pests and Honeydukes' stranger flavours, haven't we!"

"Ah, well," said Rose, in a resigned tone of voice. I s'pose I'll have to find me someone to pursue if both of you're going to chuck me for a bunch of giggling airheads. Or be the only one out of the lot of us to get more than two OWLs apiece."

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"Come on, Rosie, out with it."

"Out with what, pray?"

"Who? Who is it? Who has been preying upon your mind lately? You know," Albus lowered his voice to a frantic hiss, "Whom do you fancy?"

"What? Nobody! Why?"

"Don't sit there and tell me you don't fancy anybody, Rose Sandra Weasley. You have never been so obvious in your _life_," Albus looked triumphant. "You've been humming random unrecognizable tunes, smiling at Hugo at his most obnoxious, and the other day," here Albus lowered his voice in a frenzied sort of way, "I saw you _sniffing a flower_! Rose Weasley, inhaling the scent of a cherry blossom! It's unheard of, you know that?"

"I do know, thank you," said Rose sniffily. "I happen to _be_ Rose Weasley. And YOU happen to be prying into things which don't concern you, so nose out, Potter, before I put that Bat Bogey hex, the one your mum taught me, to use,"

"Aha. And you say you don't fancy anybody. I've never hit a nerve this accurately before."

"Actually, you couldn't be further off the mark."

"All right, all right. I'll leave you to it, then," Albus began to get up from his seat. "Oh, and I don't suppose you're at all interested in hearing who I think fancies _you_?"

"What? Don't be silly, no one fancies me," said Rose, shaking her head impatiently. "I'm Rose Weasley, school bookworm, who lives in the Library and knows everything about the Goblin Rebellions by heart!"

"Oh, yes, you are that," agreed Albus. "But give some thought to what I am about to tell you. I know it might be hard to wrap around, being thick as a pole about a few of life's most obvious things, but you, my dear cousin, have a bloody lot going for you." Rose gaped. Albus complimented her about as often as Professor Longbottom brewed a perfect potion. Albus wasn't finished yet, though.

"You're smart," he said, counting on his fingers. "You're witty. You play chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You can take a joke. You're nice to nearly everybody. You're decent at all subjects, and outrageously brilliant at a few. You're adventurous. And," he added making a face, "I don't s'pose you look half bad. At least, a lot of boys seem to think so; I wouldn't know."

"They do?" said Rose incredulously. "What boys are these?"

"Well, I won't tell you about the Ravenclaw punks I jinxed the other day for… eh… chit-chatting about bits of your anatomy –" Rose went red and looked at a spot to the left of Albus' ear "–but I do know that one very good friend of yours is half in love with you." Albus got up, grinned at Rose, and left before she could ask "what friend?"

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"Nice place, nice place,"

"Isn't it? This is the common room, of course, it's where Scip and I study, or play Exploding Snap, or just sit around,"

"Ah. And where do you sleep?"

"That –" Rose pointed, "is my room, and the one opposite is Scip's. They're both password protected, of course."

"But you can go into each others' rooms if you so wish?"

"Well, I suppose so, but you never know. We haven't tried, if that's what you're asking,"

"You know _exactly_ what I'm asking, Rosie,"

Rose blushed.

"We aren't going out or anything, Red," she muttered.

"But you do fancy him like mad, don't you?"

"You know I do. But he doesn't fancy _me_; he doesn't even _look_ at me. There's no chance of anything ever happening!"

"You're an idiot," Red informed her shortly.

"Well, it's easy for _you_ to say that, isn't it?" demanded Rose indignantly. "You're _with_ the boy you've fancied for years, even if it is Albus."

"Well, I didn't just become _with_ _him_ by magic, y'know," Red told her. "I worked hard. I flirted with him, I dated other boys so I'd feel desirable, and not pathetic, which is close to how it was beginning to get, after all the time I'd fancied him. Something had to give. Do you even know how we got together in the first place?"

"No…" confessed Rose.

"Well, I kissed him. Without warning. One minute he's telling me how James got a place in the Wimbourne Warriors, and the next, I've pulled him down by the collar and kissed him soundly on the lips."

Rose gaped admiringly.

"You've always had guts, Red, unlike me," she said, smiling at her friend. "What happened after that?"

"Well," Red continued, "He was astounded, and opened and shut his mouth a couple of times, like a fish. The he asked me how long, and I told him, almost since our first year. And he said, 'me too'. And I scoffed and said, right, because that's why you went out with about fifteen girls between then and now. And he went red and muttered something about 'distractions'. And then he went on to tell me that he didn't know it himself till he saw me with 'that Nott bloke', and that then he sort of cottoned on. We ended up sitting together in one armchair in front of the fire, and talking all night."

"I want that!" said Rose petulantly. "I want to hold hands with Scorpius, in front of a fire, and talk all night!"

"With snogging interspersed mid-conversation," put in Red, smirking.

"With snogging interspersed mid conversation!" cried Rose, passionately. "I want it all! And I want it so bad!"

"Well, that's why I say you should do something about it. There's no way out of it, Rosie."

"Ah well," sight Rose dramatically. Then she looked curious. "Since we were talking about getting into peoples' rooms," she began, "Have you and Al done… anything… yet?"

"Well, now you mention it," said Red, looking very smug as she flicked some dust off her robe coyly, "We have done things. A lot of things."

"Like?" squeaked Rose in excitement. "Have you, y'know, done… _it_? Red nodded, studying her fingernails with mock concentration, and Rose squealed and giggled madly.

"And?"

"Well, painful, at first, but, y'know. Pretty good."

"_EEEEEEEEEEEE_!"

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"Would you eat stinksap for a thousand galleons?"

"Ew, no. You?"

"Might. What? It's galleons! You ask me one."

"Would you, erm… would you marry the Giant Squid for a thousand galleons?"

"Nah. I have somebody else in mind already. Would you ask an Acromantula to a ball for a thousand galleons?"

"Who is it?"

"What?"

"Who is it, Scip?"

"The Acromantula? One of Aragog's grandchildren, I suppose,"

"No, who do you have in mind to marry?"

"Never mind about that– "

"I do mind about it. Tell me!"

"Well, it's not your business."

"Oh, your best friend for seven years and it's not my business? Thanks, Scorpius. I think I'll go to bed now."

"What? No! I didn't mean – Rosie!"

"Night, Scorpius."

Scorpius got up and went after her. He grabbed her hand and pulled.

"Stay, please?"

"No, I won't! It's none of my business which girl you fancy enough to want to _marry_, Scorpius. I don't want to stay, thank you."

"Why are you overreacting so much? I wasn't serious!"

"Like hell you weren't. Well, if it's a throwaway question with no importance, why can't you tell me? Can't you trust me?"

"It's not that, Rosie–"

"What is it, then?"

Scorpius, still holding her hands, turned her towards him. It was, he realized, the moment of reckoning. It would be now, or it would be never. He considered for a minute. Then he chose now.

"It's you."

"Wha–?"

"It's _you_, Rose," A not of desperation entered Scorpius' quiet voice. "I love _you_. I want _you_. I want to marry _you_. I want to be with you forever, and look at you forever, and fall asleep with you, and wake up beside you. I love you."

Rose blinked.

"Rose," said Scorpius, worriedly. "Rose?"

"I love you," said Rose, very, very softly, and suddenly, everything was all right. The world, it appeared, had finally clicked into place.

Smiling, Scorpius tugged at her again, and she melted into him, their lips touching softly, and then less softly. Their arms snaked around one another, and they were comfortable, and they were happy, and they felt as though this was where they belonged. It was the happiest they'd ever been.

Rose was the first to pull away. She inhaled deeply, her eyes shining.

"Al is probably going to win money from James."

END

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